Memory - Booklet 2

Question 1

define eye witness testimony

Answer 1

-the ability of people to remember details of the events, such as accidents and crimes which they themselves have observed
-accuracy of ewt can be affected by factors such as misleading information, leading questions and anxiety

Question 2

define anxiety

Answer 2

-a state of emotional and physical arousal
-the emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension
-physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness

Question 3

describe the procedure of the Johnson and Scott study

Answer 3

-participants invited to take part in a fake psychology study
-while in waiting room
-group 1 overheard a heated argument in the next room, a crash of equipment and a man holding a paperknife
-group 2 overheard a disagreement about lab equipment in the next room, and a man holding a pen
-each participants asked to identify the man from 50 photos

Question 4

aim of Johnson and Scott study

Answer 4

investigate the effect of a weapon which would cause anxiety on the accuracy of eye witness testimony

Question 5

findings of Johnson and Scott study

Answer 5

-group 1 less accurate in selecting the man from the photos in comparison to the control group
-anxiety decreased effectiveness of eye witness testimony due to weapon focus

Question 6

describe the yuille and cutshall study

Answer 6

-13/21 witnesses of a shooting where one person was killed were interviewed 4-5 months after
-gave eye witness accounts

Question 7

results of yuille and cutshall study

Answer 7

-highly accurate accounts
-little change in accuracy of recall
-resisted leading questions

Question 8

what does the inverted U theory state

Answer 8

-performance will increase with stress but only to a certain point
-optimal anxiety= maximum accuracy

Question 9

explain deception in Johnson and Scotts study

Answer 9

-believed they were in waiting room when experiment was already taking place
-needed to deceive to avoid demand characteristics for valid results
-participants would have been debriefed
-some may not have agreed to take part if they were aware of the weapon and anxiety

Question 10

describe the procedure of loftus and palmers experiment

Answer 10

-5 groups of 9 participants watched a video of a car crash
-asked a specific question about the speed of the cards
-manipulated the verb in the question

Question 11

what did loftus and palmers sample consist of

Answer 11

45 american students

Question 12

which verbs did loftus and palmer use

Answer 12

smashed
collided
bumped
hit
contacted

Question 13

results of loftus and palmer experiment

Answer 13

verb smashed = 40.5 mph
verb contacted = 31.8mph
-accuracy of eye witness testimony affected by leading questions

Question 14

define misleading information

Answer 14

-incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event
-it can take many forms such as leading questions and post event discussion

Question 15

define leading question

Answer 15

-a question which because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer

Question 16

evaluate the ethics in loftus and palmers study

Answer 16

-deception as unaware different verbs
-so no informed consent

Question 17

evaluate the methodology in loftus and palmers study

Answer 17

-lab experiment with an artificial task
-lacks mundane realism and ecological validity

Question 18

evaluate the application in loftus and palmers study

Answer 18

-suggests courts and police interviews should avoid leading questions to increase accuracy

Question 19

evaluate the sample in loftus and palmers study

Answer 19

-limited sample
-lacks population validity as results cannot be generalised

Question 20

define post event discussion

Answer 20

-occurs when there is more than one witness to an event
-witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co witnesses or with other people
-this may influence the accuracy of each witnesses recall

Question 21

procedure of Fiona gabberts study

Answer 21

-studied participants in pairs
-each participant watched a video of the same crime but filmed from different point of view so they saw different elements
-both participants discussed what they had seen
-individually completed recall test

Question 22

findings of Fiona gabberts study

Answer 22

-71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects they picked up in discussion
-0% in control group with no discussion mistakenly recalled aspects

Question 23

conclusion of Fiona gabberts study

Answer 23

witnesses go along with each other either to
-win social approval
-or they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong (memory conformity)

Question 24

explain the source monitoring theory

Answer 24

-memories of the event are genuinely distorted
-the eye witness can recall information about the event but can’t recall where it came from (source confusion)

Question 25

explain the conformity theory

Answer 25

-recall changes to go along with the accounts of co witnesses -to win social approval -or because they genuinely believe other witnesses are right and they are wrong

Question 26

evaluate the ethics in Fiona gabberts study

Answer 26

-deception as unaware they watched different videos -no informed consent

Question 27

evaluate the methodology in Fiona gabberts study

Answer 27

-lab experiment with an artificial task -lacks mundane realism and ecological validity

Question 28

evaluate the application in Fiona gabberts study

Answer 28

-police would use the conclusion of this experiment -the court would want to be aware of post event discussion

Question 29

evaluate the sample in Fiona gabberts study

Answer 29

-120 people -60 students from Aberdeen university -60 older participants from local community -so cultural bias

Question 30

what are the 4 factors of cognitive interview

Answer 30

-recall/report everything -context reinstatement -reverse order -change perspective

Question 31

describe the recall/ report everything technique

Answer 31

-a person should recall every minor detail from the event no matter how insignificant it may seem -they shouldn't select what information to report

Question 32

describe the context reinstatement technique

Answer 32

-interviewer encourages the witness to mentally recreate an image of the situation including details of the environment -eg the weather, time (using their senses)

Question 33

describe the reverse order technique

Answer 33

-the witness is asked to recall the event in a different chronological order -eg end to beginning

Question 34

describe the change perspective technique

Answer 34

-the witness is asked to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view -eg the point of view of someone else who was present

Question 35

describe geiselmans study on cognitive interview

Answer 35

-89 students asked to watch a video of a crime -two days later half interviewed with standard, half with cognitive interview

Question 36

results on cognitive interview study

Answer 36

mean number of items correctly recalled -standard interview =35.58 -cognitive interview=41.67 mean number of items incorrectly recalled -standard interview=8.61 -cognitive interview=8.57

Question 37

evaluate the research support for cognitive interview

Answer 37

-cognitive interview compared to standard interview showed more items were correctly recalled -so it is more effective -but number of incorrect recall was similar

Question 38

evaluate cognitive interview being time consuming and expensive

Answer 38

-takes significantly longer as focuses on 4 points -police officers have to spend more of their hours doing it -costs a lot to train police officers in it -so takes away from other police roles

Question 39

evaluate cognitive interview having implications on the economy

Answer 39

-helps retrieve more accurate memories than standard interview -so miscarriages of justice such as Ronald cotton are prevented -stronger prosecution cases save police and legal system's time and resources